Final Post on Flashcards (For Now)

Wow, that was a grueling experience. I just finished last night with the last of the 400+ vocabulary terms from the core curriculum. It was a tedious process, a struggle to come up with definitions that were sufficiently clear and understandable without being inaccurate. I suspect I failed on a number of items, and on a number of counts the core itself imposes a certain level of inaccuracy by the way a term is used in that document, which guided my definitions. In other cases the core omits words that seem absolutely essential for defining other words, and in those cases I felt it necessary to go ahead and use the term in question (example: chlorophyll is in the core but not "pigment.")

I still need to go through and proofread some of the entries - I did a spell check but I've also discovered grammatical errors that don't show up in spell check, I've simplified a few definitions, provided examples for a few more, etc. This kind of editing will probably go on for a long time, but I'm at a point where I'm willing to distribute the cards to my students. I'm hoping to get some input from other teachers in the fall.

I plan to keep the google spreadsheet up and available to all, and of course I have the flashcards posted here as well in the sidebar. I may decide for my own classroom purposes to cut back on some of the terms for which I feel students need only a passive knowledge, and focus on those terms that they need to know more intimately. At the same time, I am likely to find other terms in the NY State required labs that need to be added, along with some terms that occasionally show up on the exam, even though they are not in the core.

Problems


--The image cards are still a problem that I discussed earlier, namely the difficulty in getting good results with a variety of images exhibiting a range of contrasts outside the copiers abilities to render properly. It's a big problem that will take a while to fix.


--I priced card stock at staples recently, then looked online, and it's simply too expensive for me to use. So students will have to make their own card stock versions or accept them on regular paper.

Finally, having done all this work, I considering how I might use it as part of my masters project looking at how students learn (science). But that's another post...

Snag

I tried photocopying flashcards at school copiers yesterday. The quality of the image cards is unacceptable. Even after experimenting with the output variables at different settings, some of the images are too dark, some are completely washed out. So, I don't know what the solution will be at this point. Some image styles are better than others - line drawings work pretty well, as long as there isn't much text. Flashcard exchange only allows jpeg format images, which doesn't render text sharply - GIF format is much better for that. Photos are a mixed bag, depending on the contrast in the original image. So that means taking more time to find appropriate image types, or in some cases just not including images. I could also make all the image sheets on a printer and then run through a copier for the text - not unreasonable using a laser printer. I really think the image cards are essential, even more so than the straight definitions, so I will keep working on them, but they will take even more time than anticipated. I may also think about making the image cards bigger, which would take care of some problems (text legibility) but not others (widely varying contrast between images makes copying difficult regardless of size).

The second snag is less of a problem. As I feared, the borders on double sided cards do not line up properly on the copier. Even though the office copier has options for adjusting the "offset," which would probably allow me to make it work, it seems a simpler solution to just get rid of the borders on one side of the cards, which I will do sometime today.

Obsessive

I could not be satisfied until I got to a logical stopping point with the flashcards. Just finished the image card set for the first three units now posted in sidebar. It's the frickin weekend in summer and I couldn't let it go until Monday - I had to get it done. I need (mental) help! Well, it's over for now.

UPDATE (7/23/07)
It's never over. Just one problem with google spreadsheets is that there's no spell check. So I have to save as excel, then do spell check and make corrections. So that was the real last task and I think I'm finished up through Unit 3. I will make some copies on the school copier tomorrow to make sure it all aligns properly. If not, I will need to make a few more adjustments.

Half-Way There

I've finished half the flashcard definitions (first 3 units), which covers at least half the school year. I'll leave the rest for later. The only thing I have remaining to do in the next week or so is finish the image cards for the first 3 units. A reminder that the spreadsheet is here - criticisms or suggestions welcome. You can download as excel file if you want (file-export-.xls).

I've printed the flashcards to pdf. Students will be able to access them and study online through Flashcard Exchange, but they cannot print from flashcard exchange, so I've uploaded the pdf files to this blog and my e-chalk class page for those kids who inevitably loose the copies I give them.

I've added a flashcard section to the sidebar, beneath My Lab List, rather than putting the links into this post.

Flashcard Update

Here's a link to my flashcard home page. You can view and study but not download or print unless you have an account ($19.95). There's even an rss feed for anyone who wants to subscribe and get updated as I add and refine cards. I'm about 1/4 of the way through the 400+ terms and have created some image cards. I decided to separate out the image cards - it's a long story but it's essentially a logistical issue - I can maintain the spreadsheet at google docs with vocabulary, and import the terms and definitions wholesale to keep up with revisions, but that doesn't work so well if image cards are mixed in with text-only cards.

So here are the updated files. Eventually I will post these in the sidebar:

UPDATE (7/20/07)

Cards now listed in sidebar

And just for illustation, here are the (incomplete) image cards (view at "100%" or they look crummy):

Vocabulary Flashcard Image Questions



Vocabulary Flashcard Image Answers

Flashcards

I've tried in the past to have students make their own flashcards, but it's been a frustrating experience. First, getting all the index cards together is an ordeal in itself. Second, students ability to write a meaningful, relevant definition of a term is rather limited - they tend to look in a dictionary and copy the first definition they come to without regard to the fact that, for example, "bias" has a slightly more nuanced definition in the hard sciences than the social sciences. Third, their handwriting makes it difficult for them to use the cards effectively. They are sloppy, fill up the card by writing too large or make lots of mistakes and splatter the card with wite-out or scribbled out sentences - it's a mess.

So one of my long-term goals is to make a set of flashcards with NY State regents relevant definitions that I can print and copy onto card stock and let students cut out and use for studying terminology. I may even use color-coded papers for the different units. I'm also trying to enlist the help of my fellow biology teachers through the bioforum listserv.

I've posted the spreadsheet containing all the vocabulary terms found in the New York State Core curriculum on google documents (you need a free google account to view it). This allows me to invite others to "collaborate." In this context, that means contributing definitions or proofreading or editing existing definitions or suggesting images to use, etc. - kind of like a wiki. We already do a lot of sharing of work created individually through the listserv, but not much real collaboration. I'm really more concerned with the idea of collaboration in general than the flashcards in particular.

On my own I have defined all the terms in Unit 1: Science and The Living Environment. The definitions are from my own head, the images were downloaded from the Creative Commons website. Once the terms are defined, I copy them to Flashcard Exchange, where I paid a $19.95 one time fee for an account that allows me to print the flashcards to pdf. I also add the images at Flashcard Exchange, since they can't be embedded in the spreadsheet, and even if they were that wouldn't translate to the flashcard template very well.

I am sharing those pdf's here, even though they may change again if anyone goes in and edits my definitions and finds errors, or better descriptions, etc. I probably will not finish another unit this summer unless I get some help - it's a tremendous amout of time to write out definitions alone, and finding and downloading images takes an additional, sizeable chunk of time. I also need to investigate a little more how easily I can copy the pdf's on my school's riso machines, which I will do later in the summer - If that's a hassle, I may look for alternatives.

Here's how it works. For making a single copy from a printer, print the questions file. Then turn you paper over, re-insert into printer and print answer file on the back of the the question sheets. They align absolutely perfectly on my printer - your mileage may vary. If you have trouble, let me know and I will make a copy where the question side has no lines. For making multiple copies on a copier, I always make single sided documents and then copy back-to-back from the copier. Just make sure they align properly before ruining a large batch.

UPDATE (7/20/07)


See sidebar for links to flashcards.